Iran has a population of 80 million with some 56% of Iranians under the age of 25.

In 2012, there were 43 million internet users in Iran, making the country first in the Middle East in terms of number.[6][7][8]

Iran is among the first five countries which have had a growth rate of over 20 percent and the highest level of development in telecommunication.[9] Iran has been awarded the UNESCO special certificate for providing telecommunication services to rural areas. By the end of 2009, Iran's telecom market was the fourth-largest market in the region at $9.2 billion and is expected to grow to $12.9 billion by 2014 at a CAGR of 6.9 percent.[10]

According to the Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries (EJISDC), the information and communications technology (ICT) sector had a 1.1-1.3% share of GDP in 2002. About 150,000 people are employed in the ICT sector, including around 20,000 in the software industry.[11] There were 1,200 registered information technology (IT) companies in 2002, 200 of which were involved in software development. Software exports stood around $50 million in 2008.[12]

About 150,000 people are employed in the ICT sector, including around 20,000 in the software industry.

Iran is an innovative country with a population of approximately 80 million and 120% mobile penetration. Since 2012, Iran’s startup ecosystem has flourished. According to the Wall Street Journal, sanctions are also helping spur entrepreneurship in Iran.

Since 2015, many foreign companies are beginning to explore ways to start technology companies in Iran (such as Germany's Rocket Internet) or allow their services to become available in the country (such as United States' Google).[28][104][121][122][123] For example, Iran Internet Group, a joint venture between South African telecom company MTN and Rocket Internet has been launching Iranian versions of eBay (Mozando), Amazon (Bamilo), and Uber (Snapp/Taxi Yaab).[107][116][clarification needed] Many returning Iranian citizens abroad are also participating in this trend (Iranian Americans in particular).

Comprehensive sanctions prevent Iranians from ordering cabs and food on their phones.

Google Play on Friday removed Iranian apps from its store in compliance with 22-year old U.S. sanctions against Iran.

In this case, Google was providing Iranians with a service by hosting the apps. That put Google — along with Apple, which removed Iranian apps from its store in August — in violation of the sanctions.

In 2014 President Barack Obama’s administration issued a new license allowing companies such as Apple and Google to open their apps stores to Iranians. The idea was to “win over young Iranians by giving them access to app stores, or Macbooks or tablets,” said Cullis. But that license did not cover hosting apps developed by Iranians.

“You read Iranian Twitter today and everyone is just inflamed…it’s made them angrier than ever…it really antagonizes Iranian youth,” said Cullis.

Google Play opened access to Iranian consumers in 2013. Around 50 percent of the country of 80 million people are 30 or younger. There are roughly 48 million smartphone users there, making it a lucrative market.

Despite recertifying the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, Trump signed a new round of sanctions against Iran in July, targeting the country’s ballistic missile program.

The nuclear deal saw Iran curbing its nuclear program in exchange for some sanctions against it being relaxed. Despite assurances from the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency (IAEA) that Iran is in full compliance with the terms of the deal, the Trump administration has been looking for ways to break or renegotiate the deal.

“The irony is that you have all these young Iranian entrepreneurs that are really skirting government controls, operating outside bounds, developing apps, letting other young Iranians have access to those apps, and now because the U.S. embargoes are as they are, they have to shut that all down,” said Cullis.

Apple removed Iranian apps from its store in late August and was criticized by Iranian officials for removing the apps without any prior warning. The decision also prompted outrage among the country’s estimated 47 million social media users, who responded with petitions and a #stopremovingiranianapps hashtag on Twitter.

Iran’s telecommunications minister Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi responded by saying that Apple should “respect the rights” of Iranian consumers. There were reports that authorities were considering suing Apple for the move.

Tehran's busy streets have five times as many taxis as New York, offering huge potential for a ride-hailing app.

And with Uber locked out of the Iran for the foreseeable future due to U.S. sanctions, startup Snapp is seizing its chance to become the leading local player."The Iranian Uber" launched in 2014. Its current CEO, Shahram Shahkar, joined early last year.

Snapp is available on iOS and Android and also has an Apple Watch version. The app promises to find its users a ride in less than five minutes.

Longtime Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has put Iranians and Iranian-Americans in the spotlight. In part, that’s because the 48-year-old, just elected to become Uber’s new CEO, fled Iran with his family at age 9 to escape the Iranian Revolution. In part, his ties to other people of Iranian descent in the U.S. tech world are, well, extensive.

“Math and science are so rooted in Iranian culture,” says Nozad, who today co-manages the venture firm Pear, which he co-founded roughly four years ago with friend and fellow investor Mar Hershenson.

Nozad points to Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman and first Iranian to win the Fields Medal, often described as the rough equivalent of a Nobel Prize for mathematicians. (Sadly, Mirzakhani, who was most recently a professor at Stanford, passed away last month at age 40, a victim of aggressive breast cancer.)

Nozad also evokes Sharif University of Technology in Iran, which has produced large numbers of PhD students for Stanford, as Newsweek once noted. In fact, the report praised Sharif as having “one of the best undergraduate electrical-engineering programs in the world.”

A UK investment fund is set to build one of the world’s largest solar power projects in the world in Iran by the end of the decade.

The deal between Quercus and Iran’s Ministry of Energy is worth over €500m (£440m) and will bring forward a giant 600MW solar project within the next three years by building a 100MW standalone installation every six months.